Cheapest way to NAS?

Zascar

I'd like to have nas for my setup at home, but can't really justify spending money for more storage I don't need. Is there any way to get an external hard drive connected to the network without going through a pc/laptop? I know you can get harddrives that connect to the router, but is it possible to get a standard .e.g. western digital hard drive, acting as nas?

Ajoe

If you already have a harddrive, then all you need is this:
http://www.synology.com/enu/products/USBStation/index.php
Not sure how good it is, so read-up on before you buy.

If your "standard" harddrive is a Sata/Pata internal harddrive, then you'll need a Sata/Pata to USB adapter like this:
http://www.sunrichtech.com.hk/products.asp

Perhaps not the prettiest Nas, but it'll do the trick.

Personally, I managed to gather enough 2nd hard parts to build a basic pc which I've configured as a nas. The other solution is an off the shelf nas. Lacie have a couple of nice (affordable) units. http://www.lacie.com/ie/products/range.htm?id=10007

Ghost Train

freenas http://www.freenas.org/ is cheap if you don't mind running an old pc

vibe666

if you have an old PC that you could use, freenas, naslite, clarkconnect or unraid will do you nicely but if you just have a USB hard drive and want to get that directly onto your network then you need one of these USB to Ethernet NAS Adapters that i've seen popping up on ebay recently.

If you have an internal disk drive then you should go with one of the synology enclosures or something similar. ebay is littered with dual usb/nas hdd enclosures that you can just sitck your drive into and connect straight to your network.

if you're thinking low budget home build expandable NAS then I think unRAID is the best option above what either freenas or the others will do. the free version of the the unRAID OS allows you to have up to 3 HDD's (of any size), either 3 JBOD or in a pseudo RAID5 configuration with any sort of combination of sizes of IDE or SATA disks you like and expand them as and when you get/need more storage. all you need is an old PC and 1 spare decent sized hard disk to get started. the plus version (around $59 afaik) allows for 8 or 9 drives and the pro version (maybe $89) allows for 15 or 16 so there's plenty of room to expand if you need to later on.

Shiny

Also have a look at this Advert.

This guy is selling a load of Terastations for half nothing.

http://www.adverts.ie/showproduct.php?product=76753&cat=8